An American Navy veteran behind a high-stakes defamation lawsuit with CNN was handed a win on Tuesday after a judge ruled that he “did not act illegally or criminally” by helping Afghans flee during the Biden administration’s military withdrawal.

Zachary Young, who served in the Navy before establishing his own security consulting business, is suing the network for portraying him as an “illegal profiteer who exploited desperate Afghans” during a 2021 segment of CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”

The episode was opened by Jake Tapper who tee’d up a report from a fellow CNN correspondent, Alex Marquardt, by announcing that that “Afghans trying to get out of the country face a black market full of promises, demands of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success.” 

Mr. Marquardt subsequently called out Mr. Young and his consulting company, Nemex Enterprises Inc, for charging $75,000 to transport a vehicle of passengers to Pakistan and $14,500 to bring a single individual to the United Arab Emirates. The network plastered an image of Mr. Young on the screen while Mr. Marquardt said that the prices were “well beyond the reach of most Afghans.” 

Mr. Marquardt then cited a message that he had received from Mr. Young explaining that “Availability is extremely limited and demand is high” and “That’s how economics works, unfortunately.” Mr. Tapper responded by saying “unfortunately, hmm.” 

No other companies or individuals were cited in the segment. 

Mr. Young maintains that CNN’s use of the words “black market,” “exploit,” and “exorbitant” presented him as a “bad actor preying upon desperate people at a chaotic time” and that the segment “destroyed his reputation and business.” 

The ruling shuts down CNN’s last ditch effort to avoid bringing the high-stakes defamation case to trial by arguing Mr. Young’s rescue efforts, which included moving women out of Afghanistan, “almost certainly were illegal under Taliban law.”

However, the judge rebuffed CNN’s mention of Sharia law as “a bridge too far” and concluded that that “there is no dispute as to material fact that Young did not act illegally or criminally.” 

The lead attorney for Mr. Young, Vel Freedman, lauded the ruling as “an important step forward as we prepare for trial,” he told Fox News. “We were glad to receive it, appreciate how quickly the Court issued the ruling, and are focused on being ready for trial this January.” 

Back in June, judges from the First District Court of Appeals for the State of Florida ruled that Mr. Young had brought enough evidence “of actual malice, express malice, and a level of conduct outrageous enough” to warrant him “to seek punitive damages.”

Mr. Young had brought forward internal messages from CNN employees in which they called him a “s—bag” and “a-hole” and said that they were “going to nail this Zachary Young mf—er.” Another message showed Mr. Marquardt referring to him as “f—ing Young” and joking “it’s your funeral bucko.” 

He also showed a message that he sent to Mr. Marquardt hours before the segment aired suggesting that there were factual inaccuracies in the reporting. 

The civil trial will begin on January 6, 2025 in a Bay County, Florida Circuit Court.